Logitech Vid: Not Your Typical Video Calling Service

Essentially, it's an application Logitech is supplying along with the webcams they usually sell. Why? To sell more webcams, of course.

Their selling point for the service is all about simplifying the complex offering out there, that requires installing applications and managing user accounts (think Skype, ooVoo, etc.).

So if Logitech doesn't require you to have a user account, how do you actually connect with the person you want to talk to? Well, the Logitech logic says by email address. Everyone has one. But it's not that simple. That person needs also to be a SightSpeed user (a company Logitech purchased a while back). To me this sounds like... another user account, in yet another social network/calling service. Of course, if the person you want to call isn't on SightSpeed, you can send him an invitation. How novel!

...Vid isn't measuring its success by wide appeal; rather, the service is meant to sell more webcams. Users who don't have a Logitech webcam - perhaps they're just using a built-in camera - or don't know someone who already uses the service (and can thus invite them) can only use it for a 30-day trial before buying a Logitech device of their own. There's not even an option to pay more to keep using Vid with another webcam.

My 5 cents?

This service isn't going to work. It's relatively simple and easy to use, but so is the rest of the competition out there.

This service isn't going to work. It's way easier to sign up for a "real" video calling service, such as Vidtel, and use a "real" device instead of mucking around with software apps and web cams.

On a brighter note: visual communications is happening. Logitech's recent moves - the purchase of SightSpeed and now Vid - are just more signs for this shift in the market.